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Russian To Lie

Attorney General Jeff Sessions sat before the United States senate during his confirmation hearings and committed perjury. Sessions lied to Congress.

During the presidential campaign Jeff Sessions was an early advocate for Donald Trump. He was on that bandwagon early and sported a Make America Great Again hat every chance he could find one made for a child-sized head.

On Wednesday evening The New York Times reported that surrogates for the Trump campaign met with Russian officials in European cities during the campaign. They also reported that the Obama administration scattered information throughout the government on the Russian hacking, so the incoming Trump administration couldn’t erase or conceal it. Smart. How obvious is it that the Trump administration isn’t just implicit with this, but that they’d engage in a cover-up?

Shortly after the Times story was published The Washington Post reported that Jeff Sessions met with the Russian ambassador TWICE. Sessions met with the ambassador once in his senate office and another time in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention. He says he never talked about the campaign with the Russians. It’s a little hard to believe that the campaign didn’t come up in a conversation during the convention in Cleveland. What did they talk about? Lebron James? Will the Browns ever find a quarterback? Why aren’t the Moody Blues in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame? Because they suck.

From the Post (about Jeff Sessions, not the Moody Blues):

At his Jan. 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign.

“I’m not aware of any of those activities,” he responded. He added: “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.”

That sounds like a lie. Franken did not ask if he (Sessions) himself had talked to the Russians. Sessions voluntarily described himself as a surrogate and that he “did not have communications with the Russians.” That’s a lie. That’s not misleading. That’s not parsing words. That’s not tip-toeing through the tulips. That’s not an alternative fact. That’s a huge lie. Sessions is an attorney who has probably prosecuted people for far less so he would know it’s a lie.

More from The Post:

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) asked Sessions for answers to written questions. “Several of the President-elect’s nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?” Leahy wrote.

Sessions responded with one word. “No.”

With the second instance Sessions didn’t technically, unless he did talk about the election with the ambassador. The question was specific and asked about the “2016 election.” Tricky there, eh? It would seem he would at least mention it. If he had people would have debated but it wouldn’t have revealed anything illegal. So, why didn’t Sessions mention meeting with the Russians? Did he only prep for the questions about being a racist?

Another oddity with all this is that Sessions is a member of the Armed Services Committee and he says he met with a lot of ambassadors last year in that role. But he’s the only member of that committee that was hanging out with ambassadors. What up with that?

Sessions refused to recuse himself regarding investigations into the Trump campaign and the Russian hacking. There are now more calls for a special prosecutor, which I called for before Trump took office. The big problem with appointing a special prosecutor is that job now lies (no pun intended) with Jeff Sessions. How convenient.

The shoes keep dropping and the stuff keeps hitting the fan. From Michael Flynn talking to Russian and lying about it to Trump asking Russia to hack the Clinton campaign. That shit-covered fan will have to be thrown out because it’ll never get clean.

U.S. Code sections 1621 and 1001 of Title 18 stipulates that anyone who “willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true” is guilty of perjury and shall be fined or imprisoned up to five years, or both.

Section 1001 covers false statements more generally, without requiring an oath. The section stipulates that “whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the government of the United States, knowingly and willfully” falsifies or conceals information, including before a congressional committee’s inquiry, may also be fined or imprisoned up to five years.

It’s hard to quibble that Sessions did not commit perjury. He probably won’t be charged as there’s been only six convictions for lying to congress in the last 70 years, though it’s obvious he lied to congress. He lied to the senator who wrote the book “Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them.”

This particular lying liar needs to not only recuse himself, but he needs to appoint a special prosecutor, and then resign as attorney general.

One great benefit of all this crap is the great journalism competition between The New York Times and The Washington Post. I have a subscription to both and I highly encourage you to do the same.

I don’t recommend listening to the Moody Blues.

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4 comments

The current administration is neck deep in treasonous activities. I suppose it is true as Trump supporters say “Trump could kill in plain sight” (which he’s done), grab a woman’s pussy(they’ll let you do anything) and drop his drawers before congress (waiting for that one). Trump is vile and knows it. He has surrounded himself with worse. I’m sure there are tapes and paper trails on most of them. The Nazi Bannon; how could that ever be permitted? Yes, there’s some nasty bits on all of them. That shitty fan is as big as a wind machine, look out DC.

The Moody Blues are fantastic you heretic. As a teen of the 70’s I thought their music far more complex and interesting than most. I did drink a lot of mushroom tea, after throwing up it was a wonderful ride; the marijuana helped.;)